anjaani07IF-Rockerz

'I don't think the lights are coming back this time Viren...' Nivi said as they sat at the in the dark living room; they'd finished eating and had been sitting on the sofa's across from each other talking, when the lights had gone out again. That was around 20 minutes ago and it seemed to Nivi that they'd gone out for good. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could faintly make out Viren's yellow top as he stood up saying he thought she was right, 'Have you got any candles or torches?' She told him Yash had broken the only torch they had but they had plenty of candles and went to find them, walking through the room slowly in the dark.

Viren watched Nivi walk carefully through the dark living room, placing lit candles in various candle holders; he could only make out her half lit face as she moved through the room with the candles. She put the last two in a holder on the table between them and sat back down on the sofa across from him, wrapping a blanket around herself as she said, 'At least it doesn't sound like it's raining anymore...' He sat back down too, tilting his head to one side and listened and realised she was right; they could still hear the wind and occasional thunder in the distance but there was no sound of rain now. Maybe the storm was dying down...the thought didn't please him much.

He didn't feel so strange now at least; he'd been quiet at first but Nivi had started telling him about her interview while they ate and then told him funny stories about her and Divya and it had taken his mind off things. He told himself it was just the situation they were in that had made him react that way earlier; they'd spoken for ages, swapping stories back and forth and Nivi was so easy to talk to anyway that he'd started settling into their normal rhythm of talking and arguing in almost no time.

Suddenly Viren realised Nivi had asked him something, 'Sorry?' he was distracted again and hadn't heard a word she'd said. Nivi laughed and threw a blanket at him, 'I asked if you were cold...tumhe aaj ho kya gaya hai Viren? Are you tired? You can go home and sleep if you want...I'll be ok now.' Viren took the blanket and watched as Nivi gave him a smile to reassure him that she'd be ok and he realised going home was the last thing he wanted to do.

Nivi had curled herself up on the sofa and as she watched Viren's face in the flickering candlelight she wondered what he was thinking; he'd been quiet during dinner too but then had seemed fine when she'd started talking and now he seemed to be deep in thought again.

When she told him he could go home he shook his head quickly, 'Nahi, main teek hoon...and anyway, Dadi told me to not let you out of my sight!' He gave a lightning quick smile that Nivi couldn't help responding to even as she said 'Don't lie!' Viren smiled and leaned back on the sofa saying 'Yep she did...and she said I'm in charge...' He laughed as even in the half light he could see her roll her eyes, 'You should have quit while you were ahead Viren, there's no way Dadi would leave you in charge!'

Viren wrapped the blanket Nivi had given him around himself and folded his legs under him as he said a little more seriously, 'Actually, she told me to take care of you and not leave you till the storm was over.' Nivi thought about that for a while and then thought back on everything that had happened that evening as she asked quietly, 'Is that why you're not leaving then?' She realised she was holding her breath as she waited for him to answer and he was taking his time!

Eventually Viren replied, speaking slowly, almost as if he was still unsure about it himself, 'It's one of the reasons...' Nivi so badly wanted to ask what the other reasons for him staying were but she didn't think she had the guts to hear his answers. Viren was staring at her wordlessly, maybe waiting for her to say something but she couldn't think of anything; his expression was hard for her to read in the shadows but it was making her heart do a crazy dance in her chest for some reason and she tried to think of something to say to break the silence; she closed her eyes and blurted out the first thing that came into her mind.

anjaani07IF-Rockerz

'Tea! Do you want me to make you some tea?!' Viren blinked at the total random-ness of Nivi's question and felt a crazy urge to laugh at their situation as he suddenly wondered if Nivi was maybe feeling the same way he was; she looked just as confused as he felt... He felt a small sense of relief wash over him, thinking at least there was a possibility he wasn't alone in this madness and maybe he could figure it out later when he had some time to think about it.

He shook his head and smiled softly as he said, 'It's ok Moti, I can wait a little longer to try your famous tea.' Nivi shrugged, feeling relieved as well and said, 'Your loss.' She was glad that Viren had lightened the mood a little; she didn't know what was wrong with her and why she was feeling like this. She remembered how safe she'd felt when he'd hugged her earlier and tried to push it out of her mind hoping it was dark enough that he couldn't see her blushing.

Nivi decided to take the conversation to a safer topic and asked Viren if he'd decided anything about getting a job and Viren told her he definitely didn't want to go into their construction business but had seen a few vacancies he might apply for. He was telling her about an advertising job that looked interesting when Nivi yawned and Viren laughed quietly and said, 'Am I boring you Nivi?!'

Nivi laughed a little sleepily, thinking he couldn't be further from the truth, 'Aisi koi baat nahi hai Viren, it's just been such a long day...' Viren told her to go to bed and he'd stay there but Nivi shook her head stubbornly saying, 'Nahi, I'm staying right here with you till the end!' She was still in her blanket and she leaned sideways on some cushions as she suddenly thought of something else she wanted to know.

Maybe it was only because she was half asleep that she'd remembered it but since Viren had come back to Shimla, she'd wondered about it a couple of times. She yawned again before saying, 'Viren, why didn't you say bye?' Viren was confused but before he could ask, she said 'I mean when you left Shimla to go to boarding school, you never said bye...it's fuzzy but all I remember is we came home from school one day and you were just gone,' she felt a little sad as she thought about it and remembered crying and telling Dadi that she'd never speak to him again. She looked at Viren but her eyes felt heavy and she couldn't tell what he was thinking; she forced herself to stay awake because she wanted to hear his reply.

Viren was surprised at the question and he actually couldn't remember why as he tried to think back all those years. 'Pata nahi? They only told me the day before and I guess I didn't want you to be as upset as I was...' he vaguely remembered not wanting to make her cry and then suddenly he remembered something he couldn't believe he'd forgotten and sat up straight, 'But I left you a note!! I totally forgot... pata bhi nahi maine uss mein kya lika tha!' He tried to remember now but it was too hazy, he wondered what she'd done with it and how he'd forgotten about it.

Nivi smiled sleepily into a cushion as she only just remembered Viren's note, she'd forgotten about it too and couldn't remember what it had said now either, she'd put it away somewhere with a load of childhood things and had never looked at it since. How could she have forgotten?! She wanted to go and find it and read it right now but she was too tired; she'd look for it in the morning... She heard Viren say 'Nivedita?' and said sleepily, 'Thanks Viren...for reminding me; main bhi bhool gayi thi. And thanks for waiting behind with me today...and for staying with me all this time...I'm glad you stayed...' her voice drifted off as she fell asleep.

As he watched Nivi fall asleep, Viren smiled at her list of thank you's. She was leaning on a pile of cushions; half sitting almost and he wondered if he should wake her up or just carry her into her room himself. In the end he decided to do neither but he went over and moved some cushions before putting an arm under her carefully and laying her down so she was sleeping rather than sitting. Nivi barely stirred as he moved her and Viren sat down on the floor next to her and watched her sleep for a while feeling his breath catch in his throat at how beautiful and peaceful she looked.

He felt an odd calmness settle over him as he watched her and things became clear to him in that instant; earlier it had felt like the world was shifting out of place but now he realised it was just him who'd had his eyes opened. He brushed some hair off Nivi's face and knew he'd been fooling himself all evening because the simple truth was that he loved her; how could he not?! He'd never met anyone like her ever since he'd first known her; she was sweet and thoughtful and stubborn and annoying all at once, no-one affected him like she did and it felt like he'd known it all along but just hadn't wanted to admit it to himself.

Viren felt almost detached from his body as he watched her sleeping and tried to remember when it had happened; the exact moment he'd fallen in love with her...was it really only that evening or had it been when she'd sat in the moonlight drawing him that night? Or when she'd looked up at him as he put a flower in her hair...or maybe it had been when he'd seen only her eyes through his helmet that first morning?

He realised he didn't know when but now he thought maybe it had always been there underneath everything else. He blinked suddenly and noticed it was silent outside; the storm had ended but as he looked at Nivi, Viren felt like it was only just beginning really. He had no idea how she felt except that he was her friend...how would this change their friendship which he'd grown so attached to? He shook his head not wanting to think about it; he needed to decide what to do next first. He pulled Nivi's blanket up and tucked it around her gently, watching as she curled her fingers around the edge of it in her sleep.

She had a sweet smile on her face now as she slept and he couldn't stop himself from brushing her cheek with his fingers. He felt his heartbeat pick up as she shivered a little and tightened the blanket around herself and he made himself get up and go back to the other sofa, He knew he should probably go home now but he couldn't leave her so he lay down under his blanket and watched her for a long time till he fell asleep still trying to remember when he'd fallen in love with his best friend.

anjubalaIF-Rockerz

Asma, thank you for giving this last chapter.. You took me back to CCBM - my favorite scene where Viren drugs Nivi and Nivi sleeps and then pours her heart out... WOW.. You incorporated something similar and this last chapter will be my favorite too.. Will wait for next update.

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